Blue Tarpalechee

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Blue Tarpalechee

Vision Maker Media says goodbye to Blue Tarpalechee (Muscogee-Creek), who has been a project coordinator with Vision Maker Media since 2011. In this role, he coordinated educational resources for the organization and served as associate producer for the highly anticipated upcoming series "Growing Native," hosted by Chris Eyre.

Tarpalechee first connected with Vision Maker Media in 2010 after successfully winning a student film festival at the American Indian Higher Education Consortium. He impressed one of the judges, Vision Maker Media’s Executive Director, Shirley K. Sneve (Sicangu Lakota), who offered him an internship in Lincoln, Neb., for the summer prior to his senior year.

After graduating with the honor of valedictorian from the Institute of American Indian Arts, Tarpalechee accepted a position with Vision Maker Media, returning to Nebraska to complete the transition from an aspiring filmmaker to a professional producer.

After two years with the organization, Tarpalechee is in the process of applying for graduate school, hoping to one day be qualified to teach at any level. He will also begin working on a variety of film projects, including a documentary profiling the creation of a tribal constitution in Canada.

Written by Jessica Gibbs.

Interviews were conducted by Shirley Sneve and edited by Jessica Gibbs with assistance from Larry Brown.